A recruiter contacted me through LinkedIn by email. Since her email was unclear on the position and seemed "odd" - I researched the company myself and applied directly online. I also sent a resume through the recruiter in the off-chance that she actually represented the company and wasn't just "fishing" for clients. Surprisingly, the recruiter was legit. I had a phone call with the recruiter that started poorly as she didn't introduce herself and it took us a while to figure out why she was calling me. Again, she didn't seem to know a lot about the position, but kept telling me how profitable the company would be. Next, the recruiter called to say I would have a phone interview with the hiring manager - that very evening! I prepared and waited. Then I contacted the company HR. Turns out, they just wanted to contact me to SET UP an interview at a later date.After that I tried as much as possible to deal directly with the company and not the recruiter. I spoke with the hiring manager in an interview that was rushed and started late. I learned we were nearing the end of the interview when the hiring manger told me there were only 5 minutes left. I hadn't covered my prepared material and was VERY surprised to get a call back. My on-site interview lasted from 11:30 to 3:30 - no schedule, no interview list, no breaks, no lunch; back-to-back interviews. I never knew who was coming through the door and was generally only offered first names and no titles or roles. No-one explained how the interviewers related to me or my potential role. Each interview started with my trying to figure out who the interviewer was. Most offered a "bio' break, but it was clear that would eat into our interview time, so I declined. I realized I was interviewing the hiring manager only because I recognized his name. The interviews were all over the map - it was clear they hadn't coordinated and each interviewer had an idiosyncratic set of questions (often, none planned in advance that I could tell). Later, the internal recruiter told me that it was practice not to discuss an on-going interview - so everyone would be "fresh". For me, it just meant a lot of repeating basics. Often, we would just get started on an interesting topic and someone new would knock on the door, and we'd frantically try to finish while the interviewer stood with their hand on the door knob, the next person waiting outside the door. In spite of the rush, I really enjoyed talking with each of the interviewers - each had something interesting to add, asked thoughtful questions and seemed like they'd be great to work with. It felt like I made good connections. One of the hiring manager's last questions to me was: what is your management approach? - while he was on his way out the door. This is not the kind of question that can be answered in 15 seconds or less. There was no time to present examples or past experiences, just a couple of tag lines. It was very hard to know what he was looking for, apart from "fast". I really regret not being allowed to do a presentation (I had asked) - it would have saved a LOT of time and also allowed us to get more in-depth faster in the 30-minute slots. Before the interview, I was told, several times, to be sure to have an avatar - as there would be questions on my avatar. No-one asked about my avatar. Clearly, they are growing quickly and their processes aren't quite in sync. Overall, I got the impression that people really enjoy working for IMVU. They all seemed engaged, interested and passionate about their work. In many ways, it seemed mature for a start-up; profitable, goals, coordinated management. They are also clearly transitioning from an engineering-driven, agile, anything goes, try it live... to one with more planning and organization and guidelines (still fast, but a little more coordinated, with some rules). I was taught to "make haste slowly" and to create long-range plans to better guide short-term decisions - but I think I lost the position by mentioning these things. I wasn't surprised I didn't get the position, in spite of the good connections I made during the interview - I think the hiring manager felt I wasn't going to be "fast" enough. The interview wasn't hard, questions were predictable and reasonable, and focused on the daily aspects of the job. I enjoyed the people.